KRISVANASSCHE Fall Winter 2013 Collection

Friday January 18th, 2013 – Palais de Tokyo

Some of today’s greatest hybrids, be it electric cars or powerful tablets, came from the idea of unifying the best qualities of mutually exclusive elements and forging something better. So it’s no surprise that Kris van Assche saw an opportunity to bridge the two worlds of athletic sportswear and fine tailored formalwear to create a hybrid that might be deemed “fortswear” (loosely translated between French and Engish as ‘strong clothing’). The idea was a simple one, but the genius lies in how well the two concepts are interwoven effortlessly.

The first series of looks, dark suit jackets with lateral cross-sections of a sports sweater or the top half of a hoodie, will redefine casual Fridays at the office. White Oxford shirts bonded in the middle torso to cable knit sweaters, at times used as the shoulder and collar piece to a simple grey pullover and completed with a tie, are made for the consummate professional that can easily leave his Park Ave. digs for skater park pipelines. This idea evolved into a few ‘formal pullovers’ that combined several different shirt and sweater materials, colorfully stacked latitudinally, to create a potpourri of patterns to great visual effect.

Trompe l’œuil trouser-sweatpants were fastened at the ankles with stretchy elastics and black Derbys with blue, white, or gold accents were made to appear as sneakers. Nods to one’s inner rebel shone through black suit jackets and grey granite wool trenches bearing a stitched eagle patch along the back. Whether KVA’s man is planning a business pitch or sloshing through one, his “rough, rugged and refined” man is Fall’s newest male archetype.